Panic-stricken Indian crew on board quarantined Japan ship appeals to Modi for help

The Indian crew aboard a luxury cruise ship in Japan that has been quarantined due to the coronavirus has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for help, according to a reputed TV channel in Delhi.

Panic has gripped the 160 Indian staff of the ship, Diamond Express. Over 3,000 passengers and crew are facing a two-week quarantine.

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In a video, a chef from North Bengal, Binay Sarkar, has made a frantic appeal to the Indian government for help, saying there was total panic on board. He appealed to the government and the UN to segregate the Indians on board. “None of them have been checked for the coronavirus,” he said in Hindi, pointing out to five of his Indian colleagues, all wearing face masks.

“What’s the point if something happens (to us)… I want to tell the government of India, Modiji, please segregate us and bring us back home safely,” he pleads.

People wearing protective suits walk from the Diamond Princess cruise ship at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal. AFP

Japan’s Health Ministry on Monday confirmed that the number of people who tested positive for the novel coronavirus on board the ship off the coast of Yokohama has increased to 130, after the emergence of over 60 fresh cases.

The new cases on the Diamond Princess bring Japan’s number of confirmed cases to 150, The Japan Times said in a report.

China has confirmed 908 deaths and 40,171 infections owing to the virus.

The Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry also said on Monday that it was considering testing all of the approximately 3,600 people aboard the ship when the two-week quarantine ends on February 19, The Japan Times reported.

Once their results were clear, they can leave the vessel.
The cruise ship Diamond Princess, where dozens of passengers were tested positive for coronavirus, is seen at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama. Reuters

The checks on Diamond Princess began after an 80-year-old Hong Kong man who had been on the ship last month fell ill with the virus. He had boarded the cruise ship in Yokohama on January 20 and disembarked in Hong Kong five days later.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong authorities on Sunday allowed over 3,600 passengers, who were forced into quarantine for five days on the World Dream cruise ship over coronavirus fears, to disembark.